National media fawning on Spurs’ fast start

One frequent complaint among many Spurs fans is that the national media rarely — if ever — acknowledges the team and its achievements over the years.

After the Spurs’ surprising 14-2 start, those same pundits seem to be tripping over themselves to highlight the team’s early success.

Zach Lowe of Sports Illustrated’s “The Point Forward” has some strong words of praise for Gregg Popovich’s transformation on the fly with virtually the same roster from last season.

“Only 18 months ago, you could have suggested that the San Antonio Spurs of the Tim Duncan era were, if not dead, then clearly on their way out. Dallas had just obliterated the Spurs in a five-game first-round series in which Manu Ginobili, who always seemed to be hurt, played zero minutes. Duncan’s health was declining, forcing coach Gregg Popovich to sit him now and then on the second end of back-to-backs.

“Most of all, they had become almost a caricature of a Popovich team. They played an ultra-conservative style on both ends of the court, one that fit a team reliant on one-dimensional jump shooters such as Michael Finley and Roger Mason Jr. to generate scraps of offense around Duncan and Tony Parker. No team grabbed offensive rebounds so rarely. No team shot fewer free throws. No team turned the ball over less or forced so few turnovers. It was a team whose limited personnel forced it to take Popovich’s philosophy to untenable extremes.

“There was little reason to think the Spurs would suddenly veer in another direction — either in terms of their style or their record. Now? They’re 12-1 and playing better than anyone in the league. And they’re doing it in a new style fashioned from vintage Spurs ingredients, new players and some unexpected fast-breaking — a new-ish mold that fits the team’s personnel, save for Duncan, and has Popovich as the early favorite for a Coach of the Year award he surely cares nothing about. The new style, particularly the fast pace, is Popovich’s way of acknowledging that the team must gradually move away from a Duncan-centric offense in order to win.

“It’s not just the pace, which I’ll get to. The Spurs are a league-average offensive rebounding team after bottoming out two seasons ago. They’re getting to the foul line more often, per shot attempt, than they have in any season since 2002-2003. They’re forcing more turnovers, per possession, than in any season since 2004-2005. They have, in short, rediscovered the balance they had during Duncan’s prime seasons, when they regularly ranked in the top five in free-throw attempts and within shouting distance of the league average in offensive rebounding and forcing turnovers.

“The Spurs have defied the predictions of decline, riding an 11-game winning streak to a 12-1 start, the best record in the N.B.A. A closer look reveals a recipe for success — build around a core of stars with draft picks and veteran role players — that Coach Gregg Popovich has used throughout the Spurs’ run.

“The Spurs have also done an excellent job of finding quality players in the later stages of the N.B.A. draft. San Antonio has picked no higher than 20th since 1997, yet when one considers both draft position and player production, an argument can be made that the Spurs have the best draft record in the N.B.A. over the past 10 to 12 years.”

Nice words indeed from two of the most respected voices in sports journalism in the nation.

What will be next? A mention from Mike Lupica on next week’s “Sports Reporters” on ESPN?